The invention relates generally to the field of roller/gravure coating. More particularly, the invention concerns a coating apparatus that meters a film of liquid coating solution from a coating surface or roller and then diverts it away, thereby preventing contamination of the coating surface.
In conventional roller/gravure coating processes (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,443, Feb. 15, 1983, by Matalia et al., entitled, xe2x80x9cMethod Of High Viscosity Inking In Rotary Newspaper Pressesxe2x80x9d where a gravure cylinder provides ink in newspaper presses), a liquid coating composition is directed to the surface of a coating applicator roll 1 by one of several suitable means including rotating (denoted by arrow) the applicator roll 1 through a reservoir 2 of liquid 3, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The surface of the coating applicator roll 1 may have a smooth finish or it may be engraved with cells/grooves 5 of prescribed volume. Often, the layer of liquid 3 picked up by the applicator roll 1 from the reservoir 2 is subsequently metered to a thinner film using a doctor blade 4. In gravure coating, for example, the doctor blade 4 removes all the applied liquid except that which is present in the engraved cells 5 formed in the gravure cylinder 1. Alternatively, the steps of wetting (filling) and doctoring may also be combined as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,333, Jun. 19, 1979, by Navi, titled, xe2x80x9cInking Baffle For Rotary Newspaper Presses.xe2x80x9d After the doctoring step, the liquid remaining on the surface of a smooth coating applicator roll or that remaining in the cells 5 of an engraved coating applicator roll is transferred to a moving web 6 by impressing the moving web 6 between the applicator roll 1 and a soft backer or impression roll 7. In FIG. 1, the web 6 is shown to be moving in the same direction as the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 at the point of contact between the two, but in roller/gravure coating practice, the web may be conveyed in the opposite direction as well. The thickness of coating transferred to the moving web 6 is generally a known fraction of the thickness of liquid film retained on the surface of a smooth coating applicator roll downstream of the doctoring step or, alternatively, it is a known fraction of the volume of the engraved cells 5 per unit surface area of an engraved coating applicator roll 1.
Depicted in FIGS. 2a and 2b , a shortcoming of existing roller/gravure coating processes is that when excess liquid 8 removed by the doctor blade 4 falls back on the surface of the coating applicator roll 1, it is carried back up to the xe2x80x9cbankxe2x80x9d of coating liquid 9 that is accumulated between the moving coating applicator roll 1 surface and the stationary doctor blade 4. Since the excess liquid 8 falls back on and contacts the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 in a turbulent and random manner, this renders the bank of coating liquid 9 uneven in the cross-web direction. The unevenness of the bank of coating liquid 9 in turn causes a coating defect in the form of streaks and bands 10, as exemplified in FIG. 3. The defect is especially prominent in particulate coating dispersions (as opposed to solutions).
An analysis of the nature of the flow of metered liquid 3 behind the doctor blade 4 reveals that at low coating applicator roll 1 surface speeds the liquid 3 simply runs back down the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 in a laminar fashion (see flow lines 11 in FIG. 4a). However, as speed of the coating applicator roll 1 is raised, a point is reached when the metered liquid 3 separates from the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 and flows (see flow lines 12 in FIG. 4b) generally along the underside 13 of doctor blade 4 and away from the surface of the applicator roll 1.
Moreover, at some point further downstream of the contact point 14 between the doctor blade 4 and the coating applicator roll 1, the deflected liquid loses its momentum and therefore separates from the underside surface 13 of the doctor blade 4 and falls or flows vertically downwards under the influence of gravity (refer to FIG. 4b).
Presently the defect can be avoided in one of several ways. One way known to avoid this defect is to maintain the coating speed below the speed of transition from xe2x80x9crunbackxe2x80x9d flow to xe2x80x9cdeflectedxe2x80x9d flow. Experimental observations indicate that the speed of transition between runback flow (FIG. 4a) and deflected flow (FIG. 4b) depends on operating parametersxe2x80x94viscosity and surface tension of liquid; tangent angle between doctor blade 4 and surface of the coating applicator roll 1; thickness of the incoming film of liquid; radius of coating applicator roll 1; etc. Here, runback flow is defined as the case where liquid removed by the doctor blade 4 runs back down the surface of the coating applicator roll 1. Deflected flow is where the excess liquid 8 metered by the doctor blade 4 travels away from the surface of the coating applicator roll 1, along the underside 13 of the doctor blade 4, up to a point where it loses its momentum, and then further separates from the underside 13 of the doctor blade 4 surface, and drops vertically under the influence of gravity.
Unfortunately, under normal operating/manufacturing conditions, the speed of transition from runback to deflected flow is too low for it to be a practicable production speed.
Referring to FIGS. 5a and 5b , another known way to avoid the defect is to locate the contact point or tip 14 of the doctor blade 4 at application points on the cylindrical coating applicator roll 1 surface that are far from top-dead-center 19. Then, especially in the case of small diameter cylinders, i.e., typically diameters less than about 5 inches, the deflected excess liquid 8 in all likelihood will not flow back to the cylindrical coating applicator roll 1 surface on its way down (refer to FIG. 5b). But at application points close to top-dead-center 19, and with large diameter coating applicator rolls 1, the excess liquid 8 will tend to flow back to the surface of the coating applicator roll (FIG. 5a).
Unfortunately, the location of the contact point or tip 14 of the doctor blade 4, relative to top-dead-center 19 cannot be changed arbitrarily. For instance, to minimize evaporation of coating liquid 3 from the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 in the region between the contact point or tip 14 of the doctor blade 4 and top-dead-center 19, it may be necessary to narrowly fix the distance of the contact point or tip 14 of the doctor blade 4 from top-dead-center 19. Similarly, the diameter of the coating applicator roll 1 may also have to be narrowly fixed. This is true, for instance, in the coating of discrete patches or patterns using gravure coating, wherein the ratio of gravure cylinder circumference to engraved patch/pattern length has to be maintained constant.
While there are no known prior art attempts to solve Applicants"" specific problem of diverting coating liquid from the surface of a coating applicator roll having an excess quantity of liquid thereon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,883, May 26, 1998, by Kinose et al., titled, xe2x80x9cRoll Coating Device For Forming A Thin Film Of Uniform Thicknessxe2x80x9d discloses a roll coater having a blade scraper for scraping coating liquid from a metal roll and a tray positioned beneath the nip for catching the scraped liquid. This device provides only for preventing fluid from contacting coating elements beneath the nip and does not protect the roll from which the liquid was deposited from receiving excess liquid.
An attempt to use a similar tray in a location between the underside 13 of the doctor blade 4 and the surface of the coating applicator roll 1 (refer to FIG. 6) was not successful because there is very little room available there. Indeed the deflected excess liquid 8 separates from the underside 13 of the doctor blade 4 so quickly that the lip 20 of the tray 21 would have to be within 0.32 cm (0.125 in) from the underside surface 13 of the doctor blade 4, and the applicator roll 1 surface. Such tight gaps are not favored in manufacturing environments.
Yet another scheme to prevent the defect involves the creation of a narrow passageway 22 between the coating applicator roll 1 surface and an element 23. The coating liquid 3 effectively xe2x80x9cfloodsxe2x80x9d the passageway 22 and in this manner defects that persist far upstream of the contact point or tip 14 of doctor blade 4 are forced to damp out before they reach the contact point or tip 14 of doctor blade 14. In other words, the pressure in the xe2x80x9cbankxe2x80x9d of coating liquid 9 accumulated between the moving coating applicator roll 1 surface and the stationary doctor blade 4 stays even across the width of the web 6, at least in the vicinity of the doctor blade tip 14. However, the drawback of this approach was that to effectively flood the passageway 22 under all operating conditions, the element 23 had to be maintained at gaps less than 0.2 cm (0.08 in) from the coating applicator roll 1 surface. Again, such narrow gaps are not favored in the manufacturing environment.
Finally, the problem may be inherently solved by using combined feed/blading units, such as the reverse doctor pond feed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,333). There, the trailing blade at the exit of the reservoir keeps the excess fluid within the reservoir, and hence there is no occasion for deflection (xe2x80x9cdeflectionxe2x80x9d is illustrated in FIG. 4b). However, in the present application, reverse doctor pond feed is not practicable.
Therefore, there persists a need for a roller/gravure coating process in which excess coating liquid material removed by a doctor blade is diverted away from the surface of the coating applicator roll thereby avoiding contamination of the applicator roll surface.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a roller/gravure coating apparatus having a liquid metering/diverting element for metering a film of liquid material from the surface of a coating applicator roll and then diverting excess liquid material away from the surface of the coating applicator roll.
An important feature of the invention is a liquid deflector member arranged proximate to the surface of the coating applicator roll and a metering member for diverting excess liquid away from the coating applicator roll surface.
To solve this and other objects of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for coating a web of indeterminate length, comprising a source of coating composition; an engraved cylinder at least partially in fluid contact with the source of coating composition. The engraved cylinder includes a plurality of cells for collecting coating composition therein and then transfers the coating composition to the web of indeterminate length. An impression cylinder is in rotating contact with the engraved cylinder, which thereby forms a web transfer path therebetween. The web of indeterminate length is advanced through the web transfer path so that coating composition in plurality of cells transfers to the web of indeterminate length forming an applied coat of coating composition on the web of indeterminate length. The apparatus also comprises a coating element for doctoring the applied coat of coating composition on the web of indeterminate length to a finished coat and then diverting any excess coating composition away from said engraved cylinder.
It is an advantageous effect of the invention that the liquid deflector member is versatile, cost effective to manufacture, simple to install and operate and can function with minimum variability of settings over a wide range of manufacturing operating conditions